


Nonparametrics

by eve11



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Adventure, Alien Planet, Gen, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-30
Updated: 2011-05-30
Packaged: 2017-10-19 22:20:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/205841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eve11/pseuds/eve11
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Singing.  It's an aesthetic completion."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nonparametrics

**Author's Note:**

> written as a response to a fic first lines prompt from rude_not_ginger for the line "They capture him in the middle of the 18th quadrant".

They capture him in the middle of the eighteenth quadrant. His surface pattern--thin, bipedal with dark top fringe, dual brown ocular receptors and a brown outer covering--matches the chaos-agent template [probability: 0.9737241], but his heat signature is too low and his circulatory system is redoubled. He will require a new index in the database.

He extends his [QUERY: chaos-agent upper appendage auto-nomenclature] arms and vocalizes.

"You found me." [:0x34aa97c5]

They translate a fact of location and a lack of concern. He'd surfaced first in quadrant 112, then again in quadrant 55, then quadrant 81, and then 34, appearing each time only long enough to trip an alarm. The cognitive simulation engines suggested [probability: 0.732449] that against all fugitive logic, his appearances were deliberately visible and non-entropic. But their pattern matchers cycled uniformly among future possibilities--until he'd resurfaced again in quadrant 55. They explain.

[0x999c4107 0xe2565514:] "Decremented oscillating progression of successive heptagonal numbers. One-step prediction of the 18th quadrant almost surely."

"Only almost sure? Well, I suppose you can never be perfect--hey!" [:0x234d70e2 FLUSH BUFFER]

He has reset his query in response to their detention and securing of his arms. They explain.

[0x00a92373:] "All chaos-agents must retain acceptable predictive parameters."

"And I suppose your predictive parameters don't include art, or music, do they? They were just singing, your chaos-agents, that's all. Singing! There was no need--" [:0x899ea426 FLAG EXCEPTION]

They interrupt. [0x8e433277:] "It serves no purpose."

He continues to struggle against them as they derive acceptable parameters for a neural block given his new index. He continues to vocalize. "Singing. It's an aesthetic completion. Surely you comprehend completion!" [:0x5748ff43]

[0x8e433277:] "It serves no purpose."

"My locations!" he vocalizes, modulating volume and speed as they subdue him. "Eighteenth quadrant, retrace to start. Then invert modulo one hundred twelve, normalize and weight against hexadecimal base encodings, what information do you obtain?" [:0x879e3444 0x6245b006]

Information may lead to reparameterization of other insurgent chaos-agents. They set a subroutine to the task and retrieve results.

[0x00112233 0x44556677 0x8899aabb 0xccddeeff 0xffeeddcc 0xbbaa9988 END BUFFER]

They pause. They re-run the calculations.

"Extrapolate n-step future pattern," he vocalizes. "Predict where I was going to go." [:0x7266ea00]

A new subroutine forms. A new index blooms in their database, its correlation engine overwriting unused memory stacks, cycling and cycling and cycling behind their primary purpose.

They could flush buffers easily.

They release him.

[0x80344102:] "You must continue your path."

He stands upright, brushing his outer covering. "Why? It serves no purpose." [:0x8e433287]

The subroutine repeats. Builds. They do not. . . it should not be this way. It should finish. Query correlates chaos-agent nomenclature in new index: aspiration, wish.

"Please," they say.

He closes his eyes, inhales, and looks at them anew.

"Only if you let them sing, too."


End file.
